//------------------------------// // Surprise Solutions // Story: Here be too much Dragon. // by Golden Paw //------------------------------// Surprise Solutions Rarity advanced slowly up the central isle and every eye followed her, everyone's eyes other than Twilight's that is. Her focus was fixed on Spike and she stared at the dragon who was coiled glumly off to one side, a small golden box grasped in his massive claws. Twilight was watching her brother like a hawk in case he did something 'dragonish' It dawned on Twilight that she wasn't the only pony with their focus away from the approaching bride: She tore her gaze away from Spike as she felt Luna's attention upon herself and locking eyes with her fellow princess Twilight was unnerved by the attention. Twilight's interested expression morphed to one of confusion at Luna's actions and she tilted her head in a quizzical way. With mounting concern as Luna snuck a fleeting glance towards Spike before looking right back at Twilight and smiling once more. What was Luna getting at? Did she want Twilight to do something? Was it maybe a warning about Spike? Worries began to well up in Twilight's heart as she feared that her scaly brother would do something else incredibly foalish, but no matter how hard she tried Twilight couldn't see what Luna was trying to tell her. She refocused on Spike, who was still watching Rarity impassively as she made her steady way up the isle with her bride's maids following behind like vapour trailing a dazzling comet. Still Twilight couldn't see anything wrong, but Luna wanted her to know something and the younger princess mind raced as she tried to work out what Luna was getting at. It seemed to take forever for Rarity to reach the awaiting participants and all the while Twilight's nerves strained tighter and tighter with every hoof fall. She looked desperately back to Luna, her fellow princess was still smiling, but that smile didn't meet her turquoise eyes, which were now full of concern. Twilight's heart skipped a beat, there was something wrong and Luna was trying her best to let Twilight know without frightening the other guests. Why hadn't Luna said something earlier? Princess Celestia didn't seem at all concerned; she happily watched Rarity's procession with a warm smile. How could Celestia possibly be oblivious to the mounting peril? Twilight broke out in a light sweat as she stared around in a mounting panic, she could see nothing wrong, but by Luna's reaction she knew there must be something. Think Twilight think. The panicking pony looked to Luna with pleading only to see her anxiety rising along with Twilight's own. The little head shake from before became more exaggerated and Luna's lips moved as she mouthed something to Twilight. She strained her eyes as she tried to understand Luna's cryptic message: The dark blue pony tilted her head towards Spike before nodding with another brittle smile. It must be about Spike, Twilight realised and she turned to study her brother more closely. What had Luna seen that Twilight hadn't? The reptile had gone very still, glaring at Honest Buck just and released a tiny growl as Rarity reached the raised platform where Celestia was standing. The stallion was beaming at his wife to be and her blue eyes sparkled with joy as they met his, but Twilight brushed these details aside: All her own thoughts were on Spike and what he might do. It was no secret that Spike didn't like Honest Buck and despite his best efforts the dragon had only become more possessive as he had grown up. Twilight's heart quailed, was he truly able to give up Rarity? Spike had reassured Twilight that he was over his baby crush on the white unicorn, but his latest actions had proven he still had deep feelings for her. As Twilight continued to regard Spike's face she saw a cold resolve there, possibly hate in his eyes for Honest Buck? No he wouldn't would he? The fear that was slowly encompassing Twilight's heart gave a fresh surge. Had she made a terrible mistake in encouraging Spike to come here? What was the dragon thinking? The realisation that Twilight hadn't truly understood Spike for several years now hit her like half the palace falling on her head. A few hairs of Twilight's mane 'poinged' as Celestia began the wedding proceedings, but it all sounded so far away to Twilight's ears. As her left eye twitched she couldn't help but notice how Spike's focus had never left Honest Buck. Yet again the she couldn't shake the feeling that her 'little' brother planned to reduce groom to a pile of ash. Celestia continued the proceedings as Twilight's unease steadily built until she was trembling with anxiety, causing several ponies near her to turn with and whisper with looks of concern. Twilight watched as Celestia beamed at Rarity and then to Honest Buck, asking them each a question in turn. Apparently being pleased with the responses given, Celestia raised her head up to the audience and began to address them in turn, but this was all these details were lost on Twilight as she saw Spike straighten before the dragon took a deep breath. This was it, she had to do something before it was too late! With a drawn out cry of "Noooo!" Twilight leaped forward and threw herself at the dragon, horn glowing in a desperate effort to prevent him incinerating Honest Buck in a jealous rage. Everyone present was thrown into startled chaos as the lavender comet which was Twilight flew forward; not least of all Spike who had been merely been getting ready to present the rings on cue. The last thing he registered before a frantic Twilight struck him between the eyes was Luna face hoofing and Rarity giving a mixed scream of confusion and rage. The dazed dragon blinked a few times as his older sister rapped her hooves tightly around his snout, pinning Spike's mouth shut and glared madly into his eyes with repeated shouts of "Don't do it Spike!" Ponies and other guests cried in alarm before rising from their seats before utter chaos consumed the whole crowd. The royal guards soon rushed in, vainly attempting to restore order as everything spun out of control. Above it all was the slow sound of clapping as Discord (delayed on important business of his own) had only just entered the pavilion and beheld a scene of total pandemonium. "Well I done Twilight, I couldn't have done that better myself. So sorry I'm late, but at least I didn't miss the entertainment huh?” As Discord pointed out, the regal and composed ceremony had degenerated into a mad scrum of panicking guests, a manic Twilight grappling with a bemused dragon while Luna and Celestia watched on in utter disbelief. "Twilight what in the heavens were you thinking darling?" Rarity sat with her friend at a small table set aside from the reception area, delicately sipping a delicate cup of punch and shaking her head sadly. The pair had retired to a small ante room away from the main reception hall to have a talk over what had just occurred. "I'm so sorry Rarity, I just...I" Twilight buried her head in her hooves and gave an exasperated sigh. Her mane was all tangled and her face was soot blackened. It had taken the combined power of both Celestia and Luna to remove the desperate Twilight from Spike, being totally determined to hang on, all the while yelling for Honest Buck to run for his life. "Well I think it's Spike you owe the bigger apology to my dear," Rarity stated in levelly as she took a further sip from her cup and skilfully placed it down again before pressing on. "How did you ever come by such an insane idea that Spike was going to attack Honest? I mean I know he's a bit sore about the whole thing, but deep down he's still our little 'Spikey Wikey' and would never hurt a pony on purpose, you know that Twilight." Twilight gave another defeated sigh as both mares watched another guest being escorted past the window, an ice pack clamped over one eye. Twilight's outburst had just been the start, very soon guests of all shapes and sizes had panicked at the perceived threat of a rampaging dragon. Twilight tried to smile, "How could I have been so silly? Of course Spike would never voluntarily hurt any pony, even if he really didn't like them." Would he? The treacherous thought slipped in before Twilight could stop it and the whole notion made her feel ill. "He's just been so moody recently, more so than normal I mean and well you've seen our house; it's a disaster area." Twilight finally got the courage to look Rarity in the eye once again, the previous tears had run lines through the soot coating her normally purple face and saw that to her amazement there was only concern for her in those blue eyes. "That's a far cry from attacking my husband though," Rarity reminded her friend. Despite the entire ruckus caused by Twilight's break down Rarity had still done everything on the legal front and was now an officially married mare; her new husband Honest Buck was out there now, reassuring the guests that everything was fine while leaving Rarity and Twilight to talk things over. The food had all been paid for and prepared so Rarity had insisted on holding the reception regardless. There was no point in letting good food to waste and no amount of 'her friends having mental breakdowns' was going to stop her from having a good day. Not to say that she didn't care about Twilight of course, so first chance Rarity had gotten she had come over to see the distressed Twilight and find out what had gone wrong. As for Spike, the dragon had slunk off without saying a word to any pony after they had finally wrenched Twilight off him, his eyes more full of hurt than anger. Twilight didn't know how she was going to face him after this last run, feeling utterly dreadful for even thinking such a thing of Spike. "I am just getting to my wits end Rarity, Spike's well...." Twilight didn't know where to start, to her Spike would always be that little purple hatchling she had brought into this world, but he was growing up and in more ways than just his size. His attitudes to things were changing as well. Twilight was seeing less and less of the 'faithful little helper Spike' and more of an independent well, 'dragon'. Twilight tried to express several years of changes and worry as best she could: The first inklings that Spike continued to mature was when he insisted on having his own room, well nothing odd about that Twilight reasoned: Every pony needs their own space at some point, but Spike took it much further and practically turned the appointed space into his own for want of a better term 'lair'. The dragon guarded it ferociously and no pony had been able to get within ten steps of the door without being challenged by Spike who had grown at least as tall as Twilight by that point. The next change (along with his ever increasing size) shouldn't have been totally unexpected Twilight had told herself, Spike had begun hoarding again. Nothing like the first time all those years ago where he had terrorised Ponyville, but Twilight had been ready this time and knew how to rein Spike in. Items such as cutlery, picture frames or other 'shiny' decorations would periodically go missing and Twilight would inevitably find them stashed in a small pile in Spike's room. His mood swings were getting worse as well. It wasn't uncommon for pony's living nearby to hear Twilight and Spike having shouting matches over some trivial thing which often lasted well into the night. The first of these fights had been when Twilight had discovered Spike had been sneaking out of the house to go hunting. Twilight really should have seen that one coming. Dragons were not herbivores like ponies and complementing their diet with more than just gems was part of them growing up. Spike had been badly I'll at one point until Twilight had discovered that as a dragon got older they needed other nutrients which would normally have been acquired from meat. Twilight's anger at him disappearing for more than a whole a day chilled to dread when Spike had come home well after sunset, his face covered in... well she didn't dare speculate. The princess had seen something in his eyes that night which made her feel deeply uneasy. Fortunately Twilight had been able to discover what elements of nutrition a dragon needed from meat and was able to provide other sources, mostly in the forms of supplements. Twilight thanked the heavens that dragon's were omnivores and not pure carnivores, she wasn't sure she could have coped with that alternative, not from her little 'Spikey'. Still the occasional hunt became part of Spikes life from then on, but only on the strict understanding he would release whatever he caught at the end of it unharmed. The final and most dangerous problem was Spike's possessiveness, when he wanted something it was almost impossible to dissuade him and it seemed the natural action for a dragon to obtain what they wanted was by force. This coupled with the other tendencies Spike had displayed could work together to be a very dangerous combination. Twilight suspected this was tied in with the hoarding and if she was fair with herself, Spike had been amazing at keeping his nature under control and had channelled it into other areas. "Like when he counted every blade of grass at Sweet apple Acres?" Rarity put in with a knowing smile on her face. Twilight coughed as she realised she had been rambling on once again. "Sorry Rarity, 'lecturing' comes with the job I guess," Twilight's sheepish reply caused another grin from Rarity. Twilight had slipped into 'teaching mode' without even noticing. "Well it all seems perfectly simple to me my dear Twilight, you and Spike need to know more about dragons, so we can understand them better." Rarity reasoned. "Why didn't you come for help sooner? You know we would all want to help, the 'gang' would be there in an instant and I am frankly shocked that you haven't read up on dragons my dear." Twilight shook her head once more, "That's the problem Rarity: No pony really understands dragons. Everything I have done so far I have had to figure out on my own. Even the royal sisters have been tight lipped about them and I'm still at a loss as to why, they must know lots about dragons." Rarity cocked an eyebrow at this statement, "Surely not, there must be hundreds of books on dragons and so forth within Canterlot, the 'Northern Fiefdom' or other libraries you have access to?" Twilight smiled at the formal way Rarity referred to the home of Twilight's sister in law Cadence. The change in title made sense to Twilight, one city no matter how impressive could hardly be called an empire any more. At least some things made sense these days, but yet again Twilight realised she was getting off the subject as Rarity continued to watch Twilight in astonishment. "Well there are books on how ponies have interacted with dragons: Some on wars, vague hints about their traditions and what ponies think of dragons, but there is nothing covering how to care for a growing dragon and certainly nothing about the dragon's views on all this." Twilight could kick herself, she had put off this problem for far too long and now it was becoming a crisis, but there was just so much to do these days the princess had never gotten around to fully addressing Spike's maturing nature and simply hoped would all solve its self. "So everything I have learnt so far has been from personal experience if I am to be honest, there certainly isn't a book about how a pony raises a dragon among a whole community of equines." "Well maybe you should write a book about them yourself huh?" Rarity joked to lighten the mood. "If I survive this I am sure I will," Twilight assured her. They both sat without speaking as the muffled sounds of music could be heard, the reception was in full swing and most of the guests were already forgetting the chaos from before. "When Pinkie Pie throws a party then no pony is allowed to be sad during it," Rarity commented and Twilight smiled genuinely for the first time today. "Well I for one could do with some of that," Twilight replied, feeling better already for having gotten some of her worries off her chest. Rarity agreed and both mares began to make their way out of the small meeting room, "Thank you Rarity and I am terribly sorry I messed up your wedding day." Rarity waved a dismissive hoof, "Think nothing of it dear, I got married to the best stallion in the land today so I think I can get over a little family tiff causing some disturbance." Twilight smiled thankfully, it seemed that some changes were for the better. She could see how well Rarity had turned out at least. Where I am still fussing over every little thing Twilight chided herself. "Well best get back to your guests Rarity, I have taken enough of your time today as it is." Twilight hesitated before following her friend. Sensing Twilight's reluctance Rarity stopped and turned to Twilight with a quizzical expression, “You are of course coming my dear?" Twilight nodded almost imperceptibly before assuring Rarity she would be along soon. Rarity gave Twilight another suspicious glance before closing the door behind her. Twilight took another calming breath before she studied herself in a mirror on the wall, she really did look a mess. Twilight was about to apply some corrective magic to her wild appearance when there was a quiet knock on the door. Rarity must have forgotten something. Twilight changed the flow of power and use it to open the door instead, "Oh Rarity did yo...." Her voice trailed off as princess Luna was revealed in the doorway. "Ah princess Sparkle, we need to talk." Luna's voice was edged with formality and this took Twilight aback, in the years she had supported both Luna and Celestia the three ponies had all become sound friends: For Luna to address her that way meant something important was coming. "Oh-um of course, please do come in. I'm sure Rarity won't mind us using this room for a little longer," Twilight's voice had taken on a brittle tone once more. "Thank you Twilight," The reply was short and to the point, that 'something' must very important Luna's mind for her to be acting like this, only then did Twilight noticed that Luna wasn't alone: A looming dark shape stepped up behind the princess and it was forced to duck as it came through the doorway. "Allow me to introduce my associate, Miss Sparkle this is 'Warden' and we have much to discuss," Luna bowed to the figure who seemed to be no more substantial than a shadow. The unnatural darkness surrounding the figure receded and Twilight was confronted by a surprisingly small black scaled dragon with a dark purple undertones. Its elongated head was crowned with a pair of swept back horns the colour of pale bone which matched its claws along with a knowing smile that put Twilight on guard instantly. Twilight instantly was put in mind of Discord by the creature's build and size, however this beast's form was all correct and entirely dragon. The visitor's amethyst eyes regarded the smaller princess with an unreadable expression before bowing itself to Twilight (an impressive act for what was effectively a walking snake with wings). "Charmed Miss Sparkle, I have heard of your exploits and it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person." The newcomer's voice was refined, confident and as he straightened once more the dragon held out a clawed hand to Twilight. She extended her own forelimb and was surprised by the gentle way the dragon gripped her hoof. "Pleased to meet you Mr Warden, what is it I can do for you?" The dragon's face became stony as if he'd swallowed a sour apple, "I am here at my lord's request to help tutor the hatchling called 'Spike'." Twilight glanced at Luna who nodded enthusiastically, "Um thank you, when did....?" "This was all arranged years ago, her highness princess Luna saw to it that 'Spike' received training in what it is to be a dragon. It's my honourable position to facilitate this young ones teaching." Warden explained cryptically and Twilight couldn't help but miss the negative inflection in the dragon's reply. Great now I have two unhappy dragons to deal with. "Why that's wonderful," Twilight smiled at this unexpected assistance from Luna, heaven's knew she was at a loss as to how to help Spike, but this wasn't quite what she had hoped for. But then again maybe another dragon, one who knew what they were doing and had been around a bit more was just what Spike and Twilight needed. She was certainly curious about the world from which her younger brother had come from and now she had a dragon to ask all the questions should wanted. "I am so glad you agree Twilight, I honestly didn't know how much stress this whole Spike business was putting you under until now and I'm dreadfully sorry about the mix up earlier. Had I known things had gotten this bad I would have brought a tutor sooner," Luna's cheerful reply caused Twilight to raise an eyebrow questioningly. "And what was that all about, if you weren't trying to warm me about Spike what were you trying to tell me?" Twilight sat down at the table once again as she awaited Luna's explanation. "Oh I was simply trying to congratulate you on how well you were doing with Spike. I was so excited that Warden had finally arrived that I just couldn't wait to tell you, sorry," Luna smiled ruefully, "But I guess that sort of proves the value of Warden being here does it not?" Twilight nodded at this reasoning before smiling at Warden, "So Mr Warden, where do we begin?"